1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cream cheese products and methods of making the same.
2. Background of the Invention
Cream cheese and similar products are ubiquitous in modem diets. They generally have a smooth texture and a bland, unremarkable flavor. Spreadability makes cream cheese convenient to use, which is the primary basis for its choice by consumers over other firmer cheeses and the reason for its high volume consumption as a topping, for example on breads including bagels. In the classic method for making cream cheese, a pasteurized milkfat fluid such as cream, having a butterfat content generally within a range of between about 10% by weight and 52% by weight, is the primary raw material. This milkfat fluid is subjected to thorough digestion by lactic acid—producing bacteria, homogenized, and clotted by enzymes or direct acidification. The milkfat fluid is thus transformed into a solid phase containing a high concentration of fat that is referred to as the curd, and a liquid phase containing much of the nutritious protein from the milkfat fluid, referred to as the whey. The curd is then processed into the desired cream cheese product, and the whey is discarded. As a result, cream cheese typically has a bland, dull, virtually unnoticeable taste. The retention of liquid whey in the curd is a problem in itself, as the liquid gradually leaks out of the curd in an unappealing and ongoing separation that is called syneresis. In addition, large scale cream cheese production generates corresponding quantities of often unusable whey, which thus becomes a waste expense and environmental detraction unless some other use can be found for it.
Accordingly it would be highly desirable to provide a process for making an improved cream cheese product from a milkfat fluid, having the consistency of high-milkfat cream cheese including a mouth-pleasing texture and convenient spreadability, desirably having the robust flavor of whey retained from the milkfat fluid. The resulting cream cheese product would be a welcome substitute for its faintly-tasting progenitors while simultaneously improving cheese production economics and protecting the environment.